Education and the Profession

Xide Xie (Hsi-teh Hsieh )

"Xide Xi played a key role in the development of solid state physics in China.
She co-authored with Kun Huang a textbook in Chinese "Semiconductor Physics"
which was important for the training of solid state physicists in China.

"Like many scientists and intellectuals in China, she suffered banishment
during
the period of political turmoil known as the "Cultural Revolution"
(1966-1976).
In 1977, she returned to her work in physics by founding the Modern Physics
Institute at Fudan University. Through this Institute, she obtained funding
for
the establishment of modern research laboratories in surface physics.
She
helped
revive the physics culture in China by aiding hundreds of young physicists
to
find opportunities to train abroad."

When the Japanese occupied Peking in July 1937, Hsieh's family fled south first to Wuhan, then Changsha, and finally ended up in Guiyang,
Guizhou Province in the fall of 1938. During their flight, Hsieh contracted tuberculosis in her hip joint. She had to be put in a cast and wa
hospitalized for three years. She spent another year at home recuperating. While bedridden, Hsieh read widely and taught herself English,
calculus and physics.

Hsieh was removed from her teaching post during the Cultural Revolution and was locked inside the Low Temperature Laboratory for nine
months. Her husband was also under house arrest in his own Institute, and their ten year-old son had to take care of himself. After her release
from house arrest, Hsieh was forced to clean the lavatory of the physics building and sweep the corridors. Hsieh was also made to work in the
university's Semiconductor Factory, lapping and polishing silicon wafers. She was finally allowed to do some teaching in 1972.

In 1977, Hsieh founded the Modern Physics Research Institute. She obtained support from the Ministry of Education and the State
Commission of Science and Technology to purchase some modern facilities for Surfaces Studies. Eight laboratories were affiliated with the
Institute and are now the major components of the T.D. Lee Laboratory at Fudan University.

Member of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, 1982-1992
Chair, Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Shanghai
Elected to the Standing Committee of the Chinese People'
Political Consultative Conference, 1993